Description: After the tsunami hit Metro City, Mimiru has volunteered to give a hand searching the debris and ruined city for survivors. She makes the unexpected encounter of Roland while he plunders a local jewelry store. A small chase follows and once cornered, a brief fight occurs between the two. Spoiler : Pocket-Sand technique used.
Metro City is a wasteland.
After the massive tsunami impacted it, entire skyscrapers were ripped apart at the bottom level, shredding them to the point of critical instability; a few have fallen in only the twenty-four hours to follow. Smaller buildings were crushed flat. Cars were annihilated, street lamps and stoplights littering the waterlogged expanse of former low-tier civic glory amidst hunks of seaweed and the corpses of fish and other fauna that were left behind. News copters put special focus on a large whale that was beached in the park, testament to the force. The mortality rate of those who were in the city at the time was through the roof...
But Roland is nothing if not a cockroach. Mostly since he was at the well-known bridge; one of the few places with a sufficiently heavy foundation to survive being hit by six stories of water going a hundred miles per hour. The backsplash sent him sputtering and hurtling around, but the lethal first strike was avoided, and after what seemed like an eternity he was clinging to what used to be an elementary school as the water began to recede.
And now, Roland is wandering Metro City. It feels like he's in some kind of zombie apocalypse. Numb and still wet, dripping heavily behind, the one-armed figure is more than a little shell shocked. To either side, a line of once luxuriously lootable commercial buildings is naught but broken debris. With effort he hauls out a mangled toaster, lifting it up by the electrical cord to dangle before tossing it aside.
No bodies... that's a small blessing. So few people were still in here. He's never been in a disaster larger than an earthquake knocking over a teacup, let alone one of this magnitude. Through the storms, the wind, the savageness of primal Earth, he endured and looted...
But there's nothing. Nothing left to steal.
Except all this sweet swag he's digging out of a jewelry store; just his rump sticking out of a broken and warped door, coming up with his arm slathered in golden necklaces and each finger adorned in multiple diamond rings.
Okay. Maybe this isn't all bad. A tall, grizzled, and potentially attractive man in an oversoaked leather trenchcoat with old-fashioned duster atop his head, the right sleeve rolled up and pinned highlighting a missing arm, his facial hair perpetually locked at 5 o'clock shadow, it's pretty clear that ole Roland Brown is 'liberating' some artifacts, like a crow pecking at a fresh corpse before even giving it the decency to rot!
Fortunately for Mimiru, she had left Metro City a few weeks prior to this catastrophe. She avoided this misery, but her job brought her right back here to deliver some precious supplies to the red cross. Mostly water and food in this time of crisis, but also various medical supplies.
It was more supplies than she could take care of her own and was helped by a few others to perform this task. It brought her back here the aftermaths of this tragedy.
Once her job was done, Mimiru had decided to stay around a bit to offer the help she could give. They needed all the help they had, and Mimiru volunteered to give the rescue team a hand to go around town to search for survivors in the buildings that have collapsed.
Mimiru had enough streetwise to spot the potentially dangerous place to venture. Last thing she wanted was ending up buried underneath a building. She carefully makes her way through, trying to avoid the areas that seems too flooded. She was in no hurry and walked slowly, silently, her eyes scanning the area for any signs of movement and noises... Hints of people who might have been trapped or to spot someone unsconscious.
She finally spots something -- someone moving inside a former jewelry store. At first sight, he did not seem injuried or in need of help... In fact, he seemed to help himself qutie eagerly.
Mimiru arches a brow and she calls out, "Heh! You! You okay over there?!"
At first, Mimiru probably thinks Roland's stuck. He's halfway inside a collapsed building, after all. However, when called out he jumps, thumping his head on the concrete with a muffled noise. The very distinct glitter of gold is impossible to hide, despite him stuffing it all into an outside pocket as fast as he can and getting up to his feet. A huge gaudy sign reads 'Deandra's Jewelry', having fallen off and mostly broken from the wave.
"Ah--er--I lost my arm!!" Roland states, voice despondent. He pats the empty fabric with his left arm, although it's far from the best lie he's ever done. "Uh, my... my family owned this store. I was just trying to recover as much merchandise as I could..."
Eyes shift to the left and right. Given the way he's edging backwards, like a skittish cat ready to bolt, he's probably just trying to find a clear line of escape. No point in bantering with an aide worker. He's got nothing against people being helped -- after all, he's already helped himself!!
Mimiru slowly approaches the building, her eyes scanning its frame warily. She watches her every of her step carefully. The last thing she wants is to slip and hurt herself. There were all sort of sharp objets and twisting an ankle was just too easy if she didn't pay attention to her footing.
Had it not been for Roland's suspicious behavior, Mimiru might have given the benefit of the doubt, but the way he looks around and edges backward obviously shows there was something fishy about him.
Mimiru frowns and decides to confront him : "Looks like to me you've just decided to help yourself..." She says. Mimiru tilts her head to one side and she says, Look, I'll take you back to the red cross camp so they can check you up and your arm," She says, glancing down at his legs, "You can still walk, right?"
She offers him a hand, just in case he needs help out of the building or he's afraid to lose his footing. Mimiru's eyes are gauging him, assessing him and the various glittering jewels he had stuffed his pocket with. Mimiru's posture showed she was on her guard. She had a feeling he might just try to run away.
"Um--No--I,I'll prove it!!" Roland digs into another pocket, looking like he is trying to hold up a finger with his phantom right hand. Like some grand stage magician, the motion of his body gives the impression he's doing just that, simply from long-practiced posture and expression... even if it's quite impossible. "My sister--" He glances at the sign, "Teandra, said that this might happen. So she gave me--"
"POCKET SAND!!"
Suddenly Roland hurls a clump of wet sand towards Mimiru's face, before twisting and beginning to run. Surprisingly fast! While Mimiru might worry about the slickened concrete and jutting steel, he moves with the practiced confidence of a born escape artist. One with a pocket laden with gold, he doesn't seem intent on giving up! No mundane person, or even a seasoned police officer, could hope to keep up with him... he'd have liked to get more jewelry, but he knows where a few other stores are once he doubtlessly loses her!!
The more he tries to convince him, the more it sounds suspicious to Mimiru. If she can bring him back to the camp without too much of a hassle though, that would be great. She listens to his story and Mimiru just shakes her head, "Look, we'll just..."
Mimiru's sentence is cut off when Roland suddenly moves and swiftly throw a handful of mud at Mimiru's face. Alas, Mimiru doesn't react fast enough and the mud ends up in her eyes. The girl takes a step back defenseively, her hands going up to her face as she growls a few audible swears.
Mimiru wipes off the mud from her face, but by the time she regains her sight, Roland has already a good lead on Mimiru.
The Little Angel Mimiru over her right shoulder tells her to forget about him and not risk herself for a pity thief, that it would be much wiser to let him go and seek people in need instead...
However, the Little Devil Mimiru over her left shoulder whispers to her to get him and make him pay for plundering this city. And revenge for the mud in her face.
Not only that, but after all Mimiru had been through, a good chase and something to make her adrenaline rush in her veins seemed like a good way to forget everything and just lose herself in the moment.
Her lips curl into a wicked smile. The Little Devil won this round. Unfortunately for Roland.
"Oh no you don't!" Mimiru mutters to herself before she dashes off after him. Mimiru might have seemed clumsy before due to how slowly she moved to avoid slipping but the burst of speed was definately not something one could expect out of her. In fact, with the few seconds Mimiru gave Roland to run away in front of her, he might have even thought she had given up on him...
Until he'd hear her sprinting and jumping to avoid the various debris, sliding on some slippery parts and using it to her advantage to glide faster.
He's got far worse than a seasoned police officer on his back. He's got Mimiru.
Roland glances over his shoulder, his hat having flown off and dangling by the leather strap at his upper back. But he falters at seeing Mimiru rushing across the ground at him. What...? As a man who likes to toot his own horn, in short bursts the one-armed bandit is actually surprisingly competent. A professional athlete would be left in the dust! Indeed, at first the angry Mimiru might believe that she's hopelessly outclassed in speed... until Roland slows down to a much more reasonable level. Yep. He's a sprinter. Get out of sight, and escape. But this time, it failed.
And in the long run, Mimiru's dandy gams are superior to his own. That is, if she doesn't falter...!!
"Hah! You're not bad, girl... but are you good enough?!" Suddenly Roland runs up the hood of a car, bracing his foot on the roof and crouching to leap towards an adjacent rooftop in what is doubtlessly going to lead to an epic battle of parkour.
Or it would, if he didn't slide straight off with a cry and land in a pile of bricks with a heavy *THUMP!*, dazed and disoriented. "Ow." He manages to twist around and pick himself up, but now an angry Mimiru has every opportunity in the world to reach him with time to spare.
Okay. So maybe he has no experience running around waterlogged ruined cities, either. So sue him!!
Mimiru has incredible stamina and vigor. In her youth, she was the kind of girl to be one a few sport teams at the same time... and even today, she's constantly roller blading and jogging to keep herself healthy and because she has too much energy to spare.
The pink haired lass manages to catch up to him, her lips curling into a wide smile as he challenges her to follow after him. Her heart pounds in her chest with a bit of excitment. The thrill of danger just made her feel alive, keeping her senses more alert.
Mimiru's about to follow after Roland, but she has the chance to see his unfortunate slide which results in his fall into the pile of bricks. The girl winces as she witnesses his fall and she halts her sprint before she reaches the car.
Mimiru's sudden stop makes her slide toward the car but she manages to hold herself and steady herself against the car.
Once Roland is back on his feet, he'll notice Mimiru has caught up to him, barely a few feet away from him, arms folded against her chest, "Looks like all that gold made you too heavy for that,"
She lifts her hand up and says, "Leave all the jewels you stole and I'll let you leave, everyone's happy.. Deal?"
Roland slowly arches forward, grimacing to himself and pressing his good hand to his middle back. An expression of pain before there's finally a dull pop, and panting he grasps his hat and manages to plop it atop his head before slowly rolling his neck to and fro. "Geez. I messed up bad. I don't like hitting girls..." A certain skirted devil flashes in the back of his mind, and he grimaces. "MOST girls. ...Are you really gonna make me do this?"
Suddenly Roland shifts to an utterly comical stance. It's completely open, his weight distribution wrong, and he jumps foot to foot like a restless boxer before jabbing at the air. He looks to be completely putting on airs. Only a masterful eye would be able to see past the ruse, of a man setting a most careful trap... Mimiru, a girl so thoroughly confident in her own abilities, is liable to only see a literally crippled man who's well over his head. Outside, perhaps, that initial sprint far beyond the tier of brawler he seems to be putting a front on.
"You should just go. I'm a sanctioned tournament fighter, you know. You'll just get yourself mugged! You're right about one thing. This place is a graveyard now. Insurance will cover what I took, if the world even recovers enough. What do you care?!" Then he gestures, as if trying to spook a cat.
"Shoo! Shoo! Or I'll slug you!!"
The wise decision would be to just let him go and not risk herself any further. Prudence was not the path Mimiru chose to take this day. Her lips curl into a smirk and Mimiru can't help but shake her head a bit at Roland's display. She had seen many fighters and this man was definately not a serious one -- at least, nothing Mimiru couldn't easily handle.
"You're right, insurance will cover a part of their lost, but that doesn't mean you should use the tsunami as an opportunity to fatten your wallet," Mimiru takes a step foward, slowly forcing herself on Roland. She opens her arms, as if inviting him to try, showing off her own confidence and that she was not afraid of his threat.
"Look, don't do something you'll regret... You have no idea what you're getting into..." Mimiru says. This shouldn't be too hard. Basic self-defense techniques, and if this man's just your average crippled muggler, Mimiru will have no trouble control this man and immobolize him.
Mimiru doesn't want to risk it, she's going for a precision takedown. Approaching slowly and waiting to be close enough so Roland won't have the time to react when she'll reach out for his valid arm.
Mimiru's sure that this man won't see what's coming. Little does she know that he's more than meets the eyes.
"Jeez, everybody wins! Especially me, since no matter what, human society has proven that gold will always be a currency!! I can't steal MONEY, what if all the governments collapse?!" Oh yes, Roland has thought out the apocalypse in the long term, apparently. "Here!" He digs out a random diamond ring and flings it towards Mimiru, enticingly. It's... certainly a ridiculously large engagement ring. If he had time to look at it closer, he'd never have given her one so nice looking. Oops. Oh well, diamonds are useless. He knows very well the oppressive hand of Big Diamond!! Maybe after the apocalypse they won't be nearly so rare. Not like gold!
"Pfft. A pink-haired tiny girl is threatening me?! The only pink-haired girl I fear is Athena. And at least she's got the common decency to wear a skirt now and then!!" With that, Roland shifts his stance, before rearing back. "HERE I COME!"
He then takes a few menacing steps at the other girl. "I'M REALLY GONNA DO IT!!"
At length, he throws out a slow, pathetic punch. "HERE IT COMES... NNNGH!" Or at least, that's what it seems. Not far from impact, suddenly he kicks forward, twisting his entire body like a corkscrew. Despite the minor distance, a rather explosive burst of speed follows, trying to slug Mimiru with surprising velocity right in the bellycakes.
A normal girl would double over and the fight would be done; heck, even a wannabe fighter would probably be staggered enough to Benny Hill his way out of Dodge! But has he underestimated the ferocity of Mimiru's JUSTICE?!
COMBATSYS: Roland has started a fight here.
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Roland 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Mimiru has joined the fight here.
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Mimiru 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Roland
COMBATSYS: Mimiru counters Strong Punch from Roland with Ippon Seoi Nage.
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Mimiru 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Roland
Ooooh! Shiny! Unfortunately for Roland, Mimiru definately didn't have the look of a girl who liked fancy diamonds and jewels. Mimiru tilts her head and grimaces, "What!? How dare you..." She says.
His comment about her skirt makes her snerk. "I'll give you a reason to fear other pink-haired girls then," Her lips curl into a mocking smile and Mimiru lets her right foot slide foward, preparing herself for him, "Come at me! I'll show you what skirtless girls do to crippled men like you,"
Mimiru thinks she can see clearly through Roland -- at least, she's expecting his incoming punch. He was so slow, she'll be done with him in a matter of seconds. His sudden burst of speed almost catches her off guard. Her eyes widen and she changes her strategy at the last minute.
She counters his punch by sliding foward, one of her hand grasping his wrist and the other going straight Roland's armpit. She turns around quickly, the rotation giving her an extra swing so she can hurl Roland right over her, using a part of his momentum to swiftly hurl him over her back and shoulder.
"Mmm... skirtless girls..." Roland states, momentarily distracted. He wishes he could blame that for the falter that follows, but sadly his personal perversions are too wide-spread for any particular spike in the sea to be to blame. The lure into making Mimiru complacent mostly worked, but in the brief exchange of his sudden thrust, it's clear...
She's a lot better than he thought.
Flipped over, Roland's back thumps into the back of the car, and he then thumps into an undignified heap on the ground. "Augh... m,my back!! What the hell... why'd you throw me?!" He's actually doing a remarkably good job of playing the victim, for someone who just displayed a remarkably dangerous punch. "Stupid little... you're the worst!! Yoga pants might be good, the SHORTS would be great, but BOTH?! That's just TERRIBLE!!"
Suddenly he plants his hand down, despite seeming to be in too strange a position to attack.
"ROLAND..."
Suddenly he explodes into motion. A shimmer of green energy ripples over him, as he starts pinning crazily, both heels flying right at Mimiru's chin. Once more, he defies logic; it's a remarkably crisp and competent maneuver, for someone who seemed so disadvantaged. And the whirling, vorpal green chi that trails behind...?
5tIt's clear -- this particular mugger definitely knows how to brawl!!
"ROCKET~~"
COMBATSYS: Mimiru blocks Roland's Roland Rocket.
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Mimiru 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Roland
This might be slightly harder than Mimiru first expected. His clumsy moves were a front to hide his potential. Mimiru almost fell for it. Her lips curl into a smirk though and her heart pound with excitment, adrenaline rushing through her. The expression on her face shows the a bit of guity pleasure. It might look like she enjoyed smashing Roland into the car, but the joy that was visible on her face is due to the thrill of potentially worthy fight.
"Stop faking, you're not fooling me," Mimiru says, waving her hand up to encourage him to get back on his feet, "I threw you 'cause you deserved it... I'll let you know shorts on yoga pants is the only way not to get leers from freaks and perverts like you," Mimiru replies with a snort.
Mimiru lifts both of her arms up, bracing herself for the incoming attack. Her forearms block his heels, stopping it in their path before they actually hit Mimiru's chin.
Mimiru's smile widens as she notices the trail of green chi that follows in the path of his feet. That was more like it. "Now you're talking!" Mimiru says. She brings her right leg backward, white flames bursting from her leg momentarily as Mimiru swings it upward to hit Roland's gut with her flamming kick.
Right after the kick, Mimiru quickly adjusts her position and jumps up. She brings both of her fists together over her head, attempting to smash Roland over the head and knock him down with this follow up.
COMBATSYS: Mimiru successfully hits Roland with Heaven’s Diminisher.
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Mimiru 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Roland
"I'm an excellent faker!!" Roland counters, looking more frustrated than anything else. Although this might be a good thrill for Mimiru, the cowboy legitimately just wanted to run off with a bunch of gold. To make matters worse, he's more than a little rusty; his half-ass training and reliance on both innate talent and peculiar mannerisms with his eccentric style tend to compensate for bothersome things like 'technique' and 'hard work'!
"And there's... not much to leer at anyway!!" Of course, with the assault deflected, Roland does the impressive 'curl up into a pained ball after being kicked' maneuver. He's sent hurtling away once more, landing in a crash on his water-soggy leather trenchcoat and rolling a few moments before hacking and coughing, breath gone and a respectable-sized burn in his shirt. "Goddamnit... I don't have any spare clothes!!"
Slowly he rises back up, Roland adjusting the brim of his hat with his good hand. "I can see I'm not fighting someone ordinary." His eyes suddenly burn with a surprising intensity. "I can see normal measures aren't going to work here. It's time to get serious...!!"
And then he rushes forward, feinting to the left. But then, after beginning to double back, he twists; following through with the assault in a masterful deception, whipcord motion bolstering an ambush attack!!
To just slap Mimiru right in the chest. ...It'd hurt a lot. That's only to distract her, as a step forward follows, flash of green chi swirling as he drives an elbow brutally towards her temple, before aiming to grasp her by the hair and then /slam/ her down, face-first, right in a puddle of mud!!
Someone fights fair.
COMBATSYS: Roland successfully hits Mimiru with Sleight of Hand.
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Mimiru 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Roland
Things were getting interesting! The heat of battle, this burning passion. Nothing else exists but this particular moment, the battle lust arouses Mimiru's senses and makes her spirit burn with passion. Mimiru's amused by Roland's childish insults but she doesn't seem affected by them.
"Show me what you've got then," Mimiru says, taunting him this time to raise the bar up, to show her more. Might as well make this as intense as possible, make her heart race with excitment from the challenge he'd offer her.
The first few hits she managed to land made Mimiru grow overconfident and she was going to pay the high price for this. Her lips curl into a wide smile as Roland seems to be up to the challenge and pushes himself even farther.
Alas, Mimiru falls for Roland's feint, leaving her vulnerable to his slap. His palm connect with her chest and Mimiru flinches. She stammers back from the blow, unable to recover and regain her composure in time for the next blow.
The smack on her temple dazes her and Mimiru lets a screech of pain out of her throat. She's slammed down on the ground, face first in the mud. Mimiru's still stunned from the series of dirty blows, partially blinded by the mud in her eyes. She's trying to get back to her knees, but she's still on the ground on all four, face dripping with the mud, her outfit mostly stained from it.
COMBATSYS: Mimiru takes no action.
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Mimiru 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Roland
Like some kind of rabid dog who's found a vulnerability, Roland proves just the kind of fighter he is. While Mimiru remains thoroughly flabbergasted by the launched assault, striking her twice in a manner even a fellow female might not aim, he returns the favor in kind. Launching a brutal kick towards the side of her face, laced with a burst of empowering chi, he suddenly crackles in an emerald sheen. For a few brutal moments, it seems like he's become a different person; a short, quick series of stomps aimed at her sides and back, trying to drive Mimiru back upon the ground and get her curled up defensively.
Because once she turtles, it's easy to twist around and /bolt/, with such sudden ferocity that she might only see his back turn into an alley upon realizing that his onslaught is over. He clambers over debris, before lunging past an iron fence and barrel-rolling.
By the time Mimiru gives chase again, there's six ways he could have gone, and in the dull echo of the wounded city, no audio clues to where... if even the surprisingly competent leap that he managed could be done with her head still reeling!!
It seems that Mimiru has found a new enemy in Metro City... and although taking the first opportunity to high-tail it from battle might not be a victory to most, it was his obvious goal from the start. Excellent. There is no chance at all of this ending in painful repercussions!!
COMBATSYS: Roland has left the fight here.
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Mimiru 0/-------/-======|
The kicks while she's down are enough to knock the wind out of her temporarily. The pink haired girl is still seeing stars from the previous assaults, but she's a tenacious one and won't give up that easily.
Mimiru manages to roll backward and recover, getting back on her feet with the help of the back she had thrown Roland over. She's obviously still dazed, but she seems ready for more, panting loudly, hands up to fight back.
However... Roland was nowhere to be seen. She hears noises in one of the alley where he dashed off. Mimiru stumbles foward and tries to follow after him, but by the time she recovers her senses fully, he had already fled and Mimiru had lost his track.
"Damn it..." She mutters under her breath. In the end, she'll end up with only a few bruises and the bitter feeling of something a thrill that ended too soon. Her head still spins some and Mimiru stammers back from whence she came... The fight almost made her forget why she was here in the first place, but she soon returns to her reality.
COMBATSYS: Mimiru has ended the fight here.
Log created on 17:24:23 09/16/2014 by Mimiru, and last modified on 10:09:14 09/17/2014.